Li Keqiang ' onMouseout='HidePop("10175")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Dingyuan_County">Dingyuan
Dingyuan County is a county of Anhui Province, China. It is under the administration of Chuzhou city....
,
ChuzhouChuzhou is a prefecture-level city in eastern Anhui province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the southwest, Huainan to the west, Bengbu to the northwest, Chaohu to the south, and the province of Jiangsu to the east.-Administration:The prefecture-level...
,
AnhuiAnhui is a province of the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
) is currently the First Vice-Premier of China and the 7th ranked member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, the
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
's
de facto top power organ.
Li Keqiang ' onMouseout='HidePop("10175")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Dingyuan_County">Dingyuan
Dingyuan County is a county of Anhui Province, China. It is under the administration of Chuzhou city....
,
ChuzhouChuzhou is a prefecture-level city in eastern Anhui province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the southwest, Huainan to the west, Bengbu to the northwest, Chaohu to the south, and the province of Jiangsu to the east.-Administration:The prefecture-level...
,
AnhuiAnhui is a province of the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
) is currently the First Vice-Premier of China and the 7th ranked member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, the
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
's
de facto top power organ. As Premier
Wen JiabaoWen Jiabao is the current Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as the country's head of government and leading its cabinet...
's top lieutenant, Li's official portfolio includes development, price controls, finance, and macroeconomic management.
Li rose through the ranks of China's power structure through the
Communist Youth LeagueThe Communist Youth League of China also known as the China Youth League is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of fourteen and twenty-eight, run by Communist Party of China. The league is organized on the party pattern...
. From 1998 to 2004, Li served as the Governor of Henan and the province's CPC party chief, and then the
Liaoning party chiefThe politics of Liaoning Province in the People's Republic of China is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China....
, an office that makes him first-in-charge in that province. Li is speculated as the likely successor of
Wen JiabaoWen Jiabao is the current Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as the country's head of government and leading its cabinet...
as Premier in the "
fifth generationBecause both the Communist Party of China and the People's Liberation Army promote according to seniority, it is possible to discern distinct generations of Chinese leadership...
" of CPC leadership.
Biography
Li Keqiang was born in
DingyuanDingyuan County is a county of Anhui Province, China. It is under the administration of Chuzhou city....
,
ChuzhouChuzhou is a prefecture-level city in eastern Anhui province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the southwest, Huainan to the west, Bengbu to the northwest, Chaohu to the south, and the province of Jiangsu to the east.-Administration:The prefecture-level...
,
AnhuiAnhui is a province of the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
on July 1, 1955. His father was a local official in Anhui. Li graduated from high school in 1974, during the
Cultural RevolutionThe Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a period of widespread social and political upheaval in the People’s Republic of China between 1966 and 1976, resulting in nation-wide chaos and economic disarray.It was launched by Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Communist Party of China, on May 16,...
, and was sent for rural labour in
Fengyang CountyFengyang County is a county of Anhui Province, China. It is under the administration of Chuzhou city....
, Anhui, where he eventually joined the
Communist Party of ChinaThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and the ruling political party of the People's Republic of China and the world's largest political party...
and made his way to becoming the party head of the local production team. He was awarded with the honour of
Outstanding Individual in the Study of Mao Zedong Thought during this time.
He refused his father's offer of grooming him for the local county's party leadership and entered the School of Law at
Peking UniversityPeking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China. It is the first formally established modern research university in and the first national university of China. It was founded as Imperial Capital University in 1898 as a...
, where he received his LLB and became the President of the University's Student Council. He would go on to acquire a
PhDPHD may refer to:* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian reform organization* PHD, a track on The Crystal Method album Tweekend* PHD finger, a protein sequence* PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company...
in Economics. In 1980 he became the Communist Youth League Secretary at Peking University. He entered the top leadership of the
Communist Youth LeagueThe Communist Youth League of China also known as the China Youth League is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of fourteen and twenty-eight, run by Communist Party of China. The league is organized on the party pattern...
(CYL) in 1982 as a member of its Secretariat, and has worked closely with current President
Hu JintaoHu Jintao is currently the Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China, holding the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
, who also rose through the ranks of the CYL, ever since. Li became the organization's General Secretary in 1993,and served until 1998. He is a representative member of the first generation to have risen from the CYL leadership.
Li became China's youngest governor when appointed to the position of Governor of
HenanHenan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the eastern central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is 豫 , named after Yuzhou Province , a Han Dynasty province that included parts of Henan...
, one of China's most populous provinces, in June 1998, at the age of 43. Knowing the complicated situation Henan was in, and the issues associated with networking in the province, Li consciously left his family in Beijing to head to
ZhengzhouZhengzhou , formerly called Zhengxian is a prefecture-level city, and the capital of Henan province, People's Republic of China.-History:...
alone. In addition, according to provincial government officials working with him at the time, Li refused to participate in any banquets or large fancy events not related to government activities.
He is known to be outspoken with a sharp tongue, and led economic development in the central Chinese province, transforming the poor inland region into an attractive area for investment. Li did not waste time pursuing superficial projects, but rather trekked all regions of Henan trying to search for a comprehensive solution to the province's growing problems. Henan jumped in national GDP rankings from 28th in the early 1990s to 18th in 2004, when Li left Henan.
He was transferred to work as the
CPC Committee SecretaryThe politics of Liaoning Province in the People's Republic of China is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China....
in
Liaoning' is a northeastern province of the People's Republic of China. Its one-character abbreviation is Liao ."Liáo" is an ancient name for this region, which was adopted by the Liao Dynasty which ruled this area between 907 and 1125. "Níng" means "peacefulness"...
in December 2004. In Liaoning he is known for the "Five-points to one Line" project, where he linked up
DalianDalian is the governing sub-provincial city in the eastern Liaoning Province of Northeast China, facing Shandong to the south and the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south...
and
DandongDandong is a city in the Liaoning province, China. It is on the border between China and North Korea, marked by the Yalu River. Also at this point, the river flows into Korea Bay. The size of the administrative city is 14,910 square kilometers; the urban city is 563 square kilometers in size and...
, as well as a series of other ports into a comprehensive network. Predictions he would eventually advance to the national level at the
17th Party Congress17th Party Congress could refer to one of the following:* The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China* The 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party...
proved correct when he was elected to the Politburo Standing Committee in October 2007. He was succeeded in his provincial post by Governor
Zhang WenyueZhang Wenyue , is the current Communist Party of China Liaoning provincial committee Secretary, succeeding his colleague Li Keqiang in October 2007.-Biography:...
.
Li has been touted as a possible successor to Hu Jintao, whose second term as General Secretary, expected to be his last, will end in 2012. At the
2008 National People's CongressThe 1st Plenary Session of the 11th National People's Congress held its annual meeting from March 5 to March 18, 2008 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, in conjunction with the 2008 CPPCC....
, he was elected Vice-Premier, first in rank. This position makes it seem more likely that he will succeed Premier
Wen JiabaoWen Jiabao is the current Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as the country's head of government and leading its cabinet...
.
Personal life
Li is married to Cheng Hong, a professor at
Peking UniversityPeking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China. It is the first formally established modern research university in and the first national university of China. It was founded as Imperial Capital University in 1898 as a...
. His father-in-law was once the vice-secretary of the Communist Youth League Central Committee.
External links